What To Do With An Old Worn Out Deck
I think we need to treat it with respect
For years now I’ve been railing against Masonic material objects ending up in the trash or in junk stores. These are the important symbolic treasures of an Ancient Craft and need to either be preserved or retired respectfully. I was thrilled a few years ago to be able to assist when our Grand Lodge built a beautiful memorial to house retired Masonic Aprons in Grand Mound, Washington. It is a big step in the right direction.
But, the purpose of today’s post is to talk about what we do with a Tarot deck that is too old and worn to be kept. If we feel that we must retire our deck, and aren’t able to or don’t want to store it, what do we do with it?
Just as with Masonic items, a deck that has been used for readings, probably for a long time, is infused with energy and meaning. It isn’t a bunch of pieces of paper with pictures on it. It is that, but it is so much more.
It is my opinion that such a deck should either be respectfully burnt, like we respectfully burn a worn United States flag, in order to release the energy it contains back out into the universe, or it should be buried somewhere respectfully.
I might suggest that if we own a house, it be buried at one corner of our lawn. In time, a deck could be buried in each corner, surrounding our home with the energy contained within the decks. If our space is extremely limited, as in a small apartment, perhaps a deck could be buried in a pot filled with wonderful growing plants. Slowly it will return into the earth that surrounds it.
But we must not throw a reading deck like this out with the garbage. We shouldn’t drop it off at a nearby thrift store.
This post came to me today because of a post I read on social media. A person had found her mother’s deck among her final possessions, and asked what to do with it. Most of the advice was to either throw it away or drop it off at a thrift shop. Such advice badly misunderstands what the Tarot is and what the cards become. I hope that this little post can help if anyone wonders the same thing.
Related to all of this…
What do we do if we buy a deck, try it out a bit, and discover that it just isn’t for us?
(As an aside, I did this myself very recently. It looked awesome in the shop, not so awesome when I got it home.)
In this case, if it is a nearly new deck that we no longer want, for whatever reason, I think we should gift it to a friend or loved one. Different decks speak to different people, someone will love it.